I thought they were going to kill a horse or something, gut it and crawl inside! I would just build a blanket fort and heat it with body heat and a candle.
Neat. How many die from CO/CO2 poisoning? (CO and CO2 are heavier than air and 'sink' in an enclosed space) While in Korea, I saw a lot of these (burning cheap low-quality coal 'brickettes') kitchen fire heated the house. The CO/CO2 deaths were the bonus. Much like old-school Roman heating. *** In the US we have these "solid fuel" hand / sleeping bag warmers - and they work great. Still have the pair I used in the field in rural AK. The odor is something you learn to ignore.
In Korea I had the dubious 'duty' to visit homes of the hookers/yobos in the winter to check for CO/CO2 leakage up thru the floor. Heat rises, pulling the gas up into the living space, then - the occupants, sleeping on the floor, don't wake up. Big problem in rural RoK at the time (1976/77) ( see A Social History of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Korea in 1960s: from an Accident due to Carelessness to a Social Disease | Request PDF (research.net)) This paper demonstrates the danger of low-grade coal. I got this 'job' because I was the only one in the unit that everyone else trusted to leave 'their' hookers alone. Distasteful to me, to say the least. OTOH, going to a service for a dead GI is no fun either.
